In the prior art, a laser printer controller is designed specifically for a dedicated print mechanism communications state machine. Thus, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) must be redesigned when the engine interface specification changes or when a mechanism from a different vendor is used. In addition, a laser print controller may use I/O interfaces, such as serial, parallel, control area network (CAN), and front panel with dedicated fixed function hardware. Because the functionality of the interface is fixed in a given ASIC, the flexibility is limited, and it may be unable to support changes in the protocol of a given interface. In addition, if alternate functionality is desired, the ASIC must be redesigned. For interfaces that are not well defined prior to the onset of ASIC development, the Programmable I/O can reduce implementation risk and provide time-to-market advantages.